Gold imports at the Kochi airport through the legal channel by Indians working abroad shot up to 233 kg in December from just 11 kg in November, according to Customs officials. The Customs Department collected around ` 20 crore as import duty in December. The current import duty on gold bullion is 10 per cent. While imports through the legal channel zoomed, there had been drastic fall in gold smuggling – only 1 kg was seized in December. There was also increase in the import of gold jewellery.
Indians who have stayed abroad for a minimum of six months are allowed to import gold bullion at 10 per cent while women who have stayed overseas for more than a year can bring in gold jewellery worth ` 1 lakh free of duty. For men, this is ` 50,000 worth of gold.
The import duty on gold jewellery is 15 per cent, but still there had been a jump in jewellery imports, Customs officials added.
Source:Hindu business line
Source:Bullion bulletin